>Morning, frenz
>Mornin' Ralphโฆ Please pass the Covfefe.
>Dark Roast for hump day if it's available.
Shills still here. Must be another Boom week.
>good morning Ralph.
50.0.0.0/8 ARIN 2010-02Formerly Joint Technical Command (Returned to IANA Mar 98) 1994-05. Updated to IANA - Reserved in 2007-05
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>50.0.0.0/8 ARIN 2010-02Formerly Joint Technical Command
IBM Government Cloud Gets FedRAMP Approval
Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program guarantees IBM's infrastructure as a service platform meets federal network security standards.
November 08, 2013IBM Government Cloud Gets FedRAMP Approval
Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program guarantees IBM's infrastructure as a service platform meets federal network security standards.
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Wyatt Kash
former Editor, InformationWeek Government
November 08, 2013
A government IT board granted IBM's SmartCloud for Government operating approval, allowing federal agencies to use IBM's infrastructure as-a-service cloud platform with the guarantee that it meets federal network security standards.
IBM received the Provisional Authorization to Operate (P-ATO) from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) and its Joint Authorization Board. The board, made up of IT officials from the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. General Services Administration, assesses the security controls used by cloud service providers and approves those that fully conform with federally-mandated operating standards.
The authorized IBM cloud environment is part of IBM's dedicated federal data centers facilities located in Colorado and North Carolina.
The IBM SmartCloud for Government was originally launched in 2010, and offers agencies one of the most secure and comprehensive certified multi-tenant cloud computing environments available. Numerous U.S. federal agencies already use IBM's cloud offerings, using previously issued authorities to operate from individual defense and civilian agencies. The facility uses NetApp storage technology.
The FedRAMP certification effectively gives the IBM government cloud government-wide operating approval. Historically, IT service providers must obtain network security authorization on an agency-by-agency basis. "FedRAMP certification by the JAB provides an overarching validation of the robust security IBM's cloud offerings provide," said Anne Altman, general manager, IBM U.S. Federal. "IBM's efforts to make the cloud secure extend beyond the current requirements. Our research teams are exploring the next generation of cloud security and are committed to bringing further innovation to the government in this area."
IBM joins a small but growing roster of similarly-authorized cloud service providers, including Akamai, AT&T, Autonomic Resources, CGI Federal, HP Enterprise Cloud Services, and Microsoft. FedRAMP also grants security authorizations to cloud service providers, including Amazon Web Services, working with individual agencies.
The approval comes on the heels of a number of announcements in recent days by IBM, including a series of recently and soon-to-be-released big data analytics services and capabilities.
IBM has also announced updates to its SmartCloud Virtual Storage Center, which analyze usage patterns to determine the best storage choice for a given set of data, and automatically make the change without admin assistance or interruptions to data access, as InformationWeek reported earlier this week.
IBM also opened its new Federal Cloud Innovation Center in Washington, D.C. The center expects to draw on more than 500 IBM researchers and specialists in cloud computing, open standards and security protocols for cloud computing.
>IBM Government Cloud
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IBM gets $18.8m contract modification for ongoing US Army IT modernization award,ITES-2S
Just over a week after a separate $25m win
May 01, 2020
By
Sebastian Moss
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IBM has been awarded an $18.8m modification to its US Army IT modernization contract.
The company won part of the ITES-2S contract vehicle back in 2005, with a contract ceiling of $20 billion - butGovTribe's contract tracker puts the current cumulative spend for IBM services at $1bn.
The Department of Defense Spending
IBM Watson as a soldier
โ Gunnery Sgt. Robert B. Brown Jr./DCD
"IBM, Reston, Virginia, was awarded an $18,825,414 modification (2T0128) to contract W91QUZ-06-D-0010 for information technology services and support on behalf of the Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems," the Department of Defense said in its latest listing of contract awards.
"Work will be performed in Radford, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of April 13, 2021."
IBM's ITES-2S contract W91QUZ-06-D-0010 covers server consolidation, information systems security, systems operations and maintenance, network support services, data center assessment and selection, and more.
Earlier in April, IBM was awarded a separate modification to the contract - this time for $23,569,218 - to support a logistics data analysis center.
The Information Technology Enterprise Solution 2 Services contract was originally set to expire in 2015, but was repeatedly delayed until April 2020 while the Army finalized ITES-3S. The original RFP for ITES-3S, which focuses more on cloud computing and cybersecurity services, was issued in February 2016.
The Department of Defense is also looking to shift the majority of its computing needs to one cloud provider, under the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure initiative. But, after the oft-delayed JEDI contract was awarded to Microsoft Azure in October, the program has been stymied by legal challenges from competitor Amazon Web Services.
Amazon claims that the procurement process was unfairly influenced by President Trump, who appears to dislike Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. The DoD Inspector General found no proof of such allegations, but was barred by the White House from interviewing White House staff members or discussing White House communications with DoD officials.
AWS' lawsuit over the contract is currently on hold as the DoD reviews its award.
>softlayerIbmclo.png
>50.0.0.0/8 ARIN 2010-02Formerly Joint Technical Command
>IBM Government Cloud
>GovTribe's contract tracker puts the current cumulative spend for IBM services at $1bn.